British sounding rocket. Petrel was a larger sounding rocket built by Bristol Aerojet using the same launch technique as Skua. Three Chick rockets blasted the upper stage and payload out of a 10-m long launch tube. The 4.5 kN Lapwing second stage burned for 30 seconds. A unique aspect was that the Chick boosters could be recovered and reloaded with propellant.

Petrel Petrel was a larger sounding rocket built by Bristol Aerojet using the same tube-launch technique as Skua. A total of 240 Petrels were launched from 1967-1982 from many sites around the world. More...

Sonmiani Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 90 launches from 1962 to 2007, reaching up to 423 kilometers altitude. More...

Andoya Andoya Rocket Range (ARR) is the world's northernmost permanent launch facility for sounding rockets and scientific balloons and is responsible for all scientific-related balloon and rocket operations in Norwegian territory. ARR provides complete services for launch, operations, data acquisition, recovery and ground instrumentation support. The range has conducted more than 650 rocket launches and hosted scientists and engineers from more than 70 institutes and universities. More...

South Uist British missile test range, occupying a good portion of northwest South Uist island in the Hebrides. Aside from missile testing, it has also been used for launch of Skua and Petrel meteorological rockets. Known to have been used for 222 launches from 1962 to 1982, reaching up to 174 kilometers altitude. More...

Thumba Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 1385 launches from 1963 to 2004, reaching up to 400 kilometers altitude. More...

Kiruna The sounding rocket launch site at Kiruna was officially opened in September 1966 under the auspices of ESRO (European Space Research Organisation). When ESA was created in 1972 and replaced ESRO, Kiruna came under the management of the Swedish Space Corporation, a state-owned limited liability company under the Swedish Ministry of Industry. The 'Esrange' is located 45 km from the town of Kiruna and has seven permanent pads able to launch the largest sounding rockets, including the Black Brant 9, Skylark 12, and Castor 4B-boosted vehicles. More...

El Arenosillo Spanish sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 335 launches from 1966 to 1994, reaching up to 700 kilometers altitude. More...

Sonde Stromfjord The Danish Meteorological Institute established this sounding rocket range in 1971. The site was located next to an airport at the end of the fjord and was only occupied during launch campaigns. The location was well-suited for observation of the Arctic aurora and ionosphere. Known to have been used for 31 launches from 1971 to 1987, reaching up to 816 kilometers altitude. More...